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Edgar Chaput
Bears vs. Colts Point Spread: NFL Week 3 Odds, Prediction
The Chicago Bears are 1-1, but judging by the vibes amongst the pundits, one would think they’re 0-17. It’s been a rough start for number one overall draft selection Caleb Williams, but he’ll get another crack at showing promise this week. There is so much hype about Williams it’s easy to forget that the Colts have a young QB stud of their own in Anthony Richardson, who is only playing his second season (and missed most of the first because of injuries).
Our NFL odds gave the narrowest of edges to the Colts at -1, but this is ostensibly a toss-up.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
It’s been four long years since the Colts and Bears stared at each other on the gridiron. The last time was during the odd 2020 pandemic afflicted season when, get this, Philip Rivers was Indy’s QB and Nick Foles quarterbacked Chicago. The Colts left the Windy City with a 19-11 win that day. Overall, the AFC South club has a 3-2 edge over the past five meetings, dating back to Super Bowl XLI.
Chicago has commenced its 2024 with a 1-0-1 record against the spread. They successfully covered in Week 1 and their defeat to the Houston Texans on Sunday night in Week 2 was by enough points for a push. Right now, Williams ranks 30th among NFL quarterbacks with a lowly 267 passing yards through two games and 27th in completion percentage with 56.1. WR Keenan Allen’s status has been upgraded to questionable.
Indianapolis’ good fight in Week 1 at home against the Texans allowed them to cover the spread despite the outright loss. However, they couldn’t follow that up with a positive performance in Green Bay, ergo their 1-1 tally thus far. If Williams’ completion efficiency looks glum, consider that Richardson’s is 49.1 per cent. Bad news out of Indy: DT Deforest Buckner is on IR because of an ankle issue.
Chicago Bears
Whether Caleb Williams is a good quarterback or not at the NFL level remains to be seen. That said, we won’t find out anytime soon if Chicago’s offensive line gets manhandled as it was by Houston in Week 2.
The Texans took Williams to the turf for sacks seven times, excluding another 11 QB hits. Williams put on a brave face, but the truth is he was demolished – not even counting his two interceptions. There was one of two drives that looked decent, most notably the team’s second-quarter drive that produced a TD for RB Khalil Herbert from two yards out. That put the visiting Bears within striking distance at 13-10, but they accomplished absolutely nothing on offence after that. It’s a shame because for two consecutive weeks Chicago’s defence has looked rather good. LB Tremaine Edmunds hounded Houston all night to the tune of 11 tackles and sack, with DE Kevin Byard III’s 11 tackles right alongside him.
Not everything is bad with the Bears, but the offence’s shortcomings showed in an ugly 19-10 defeat.
Indianapolis Colts
On one hand it’s difficult to fathom how the Colts could let a game against the Malik Willis-led Packers get away from them (a 16-10 loss). On the other hand, it’s really quite simple. If a team cannot stop the run, the defence cannot get off the field. If a defence cannot get off the field, then its offence has nothing to do.
To that point, Indy is conceding an average of 237 yards on the ground through two weeks, which is outrageous. They were worse in Week 2, allowing Green Bay to stomp over them for 261 yards. How else can their offence have the ball for no more than 19:49? What little time Richardson had with the ball was put to poor use, as he tossed a trio of picks, including the game-sealing Hail Mary. RB Jonathan Taylor tried to match his opposite number (Josh Jacobs, 151 yards), but his solid 103-yard day was ultimately rendered meaningless.
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